


Sleep Deprived

by Gautiers



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family, Fluff, Romance, and he's such a troublemaker, dimitri and byleth have a son
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-03 04:40:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21173588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gautiers/pseuds/Gautiers
Summary: Dimitri needs sleep, but what's sleep when you're ruling a kingdom and managing your teething son through his long, painful nights? A domestically fluffy fic featuring Dimitri, Byleth, and their baby boy, Mikhail.





	Sleep Deprived

**Author's Note:**

> i live for domestic fluff. live. here's some domestic dimileth fluff for ya'll bc it's been sitting in my drafts for a few days now and i'm trying to clear house. enjoy! once again, not beta-read bc we post like savages (i just have no beta readers lmao)

No book or journal could have ever prepared Dimitri for being a father. No one told him that he wouldn’t sleep, eat, or drink for days, or that having his first child would be this stressful and anxiety inducing, or that changing diapers could be so messy and difficult. No one told him that he would always be asking himself if he was going to be a good father, or if he was raising his child right, or if he was doing enough for his wife. Being a father is tough, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

•••

“Your Majesty, are you...okay?”

Dedue dubiously eyes his king, unsure if he should support the wobbling man or let him continue stumbling down the hall. Dimitri is clearly sleep deprived, a result of his infant son’s incessant crying throughout the night, despite his and Byleth’s best efforts to console him. It was finally dawn before Mikhail Lucien Blaiddyd decided to sleep, and by then, it was time for the King to set off to work.

“I...will be fine,” Dimitri mumbles, waving off his general and right-hand man. “I will rest later.” At least, he hopes he will. He tries to ignore the pounding between his eyebrows from his lack of sleep for the past week, and decides that he will stop by Mercedes’s office later for something to help with that. Perhaps a spell to rally his spirits, at least until he can make it back to his chambers and finally catch some sweet, sweet sleep. 

The morning proceeds smoothly with meetings from the various houses throughout Faerghus to help further refine the country and build more schools and churches in its more rural parts. These meetings last well past lunchtime; Dimitri barely has time to manage a few morsels of food before being swept away for another long round of meeting upon meeting. 

The sun is on the cusp of setting when the King’s final guest has been escorted to the front gates. It is much earlier than Dimitri anticipates, but the excitement of having supper alone with his wife and son perks him up considerably in lieu of his ungoddessly tired eyes. 

“Byleth?” he calls out after returning to their chambers, hanging up his cloak and gloves. 

“Welcome home,” she calls out, Mikhail cradled in her arms and gurgling happily at him. “You’re home early!”

“Papa!”

Goodness, his son is so incredibly cute, and Dimitri is absolutely stricken. Taking his rather chunky son into his hold, he bounces him up and down and presses a soft kiss to cheek, and in return, Mikhail uses his pudgy hands to grab his nose. “Oh, hello to you, son.”

Byleth reaches up on her toes to give her husband a welcome home kiss. “Have you eaten yet?”

Dimitri shakes his head, attempting to dodge Mikhail’s grabbing hands to avoid losing yet another tuft of hair to his son’s ridiculously strong grasp. “I was hoping to share supper with you and Mikhail tonight, as it is still early yet.”

“Oh, yes! In fact, I just finished cooking. Let me set the table.”

There’s a lovely smile that he hadn’t seen his wife wear in a long while, and Dimitri can feel his heart flip flop in his chest.  _ Absolutely beautiful _ .

“I’m sorry?”

Byleth is flushed red, which, in turn, makes Dimitri blush as well. “Did I say that out loud?”

“Well…”

Clearing his throat, he gazes at his wife earnestly. “You’re beautiful today. Well, every day.”

She blushes even more, the color even reaching down her neck and to her ears. “Thank y -- !”

“Ow, Mikhail!”

Their son finally grabs a hold of Dimitri’s long, golden hair, and yanks on it with such amusement that his eyes are nearly squinted closed from how happily he smiles. Dimitri finds it hard to be mad at his son when he’s like this.

“Goddess, please don’t turn me into a balding man just yet...”

Byleth is quick to prepare supper, setting the table with their meals and pulling out Mikhail’s highchair so that he may sit with them, too. Dimitri’s mouth waters at the sight and smell of a home cooked meal, something he’s missed for far too long, and begins eating with relish. As soon as he finishes, he takes over for Byleth to feed Mikhail so she may also eat. 

It hasn’t been long since more solid foods have been introduced to the young prince, who eats everything with gusto and has a strong interest in the new things presented to him. His eagerness to learn and interact has Dimitri feeling that his son will be a wonderful ruler when his time comes. 

“Open up, Mikhail,” Dimitri coos softly, bringing the small spoon to his son’s mouth and feeding him the rice porridge that he absolutely adores. “Good boy. You’re going to be so strong when you grow up, you know that?”

Mikhail only gurgles in response, playing with his bib and occasionally sticking his fingers into his mouth to chew on them. 

“I’m glad he’s in a better mood,” Byleth comments as she watches her husband. “His teething is driving us all mad.”

Dimitri chuckles tiredly. “I think ‘mad’ is an understatement. I should ask Dedue if he would be willing to fashion a sort of teething toy for Mikhail, or maybe Gilbert. I know he enjoys woodworking; perhaps he’d be willing to make a teething ring of sorts.”

“Given how much our son chews on everything he can find, we would need at least ten rings, if not more.”

They continue conversing about their day when there is a sudden knock at their door. Byleth moves to answer it, leaving Dimitri to continue feeding their son. With a now-full belly, the King is beginning to feel his exhaustion hit -- heavy eyes, a pleasant warmth, the comforts of home. Resting his head on his hand and absentmindedly spooning more porridge for his son, Dimitri’s eyes begin to droop.  _ Perhaps just a few seconds _ , he thinks, letting his eyes close shut. 

It ended up being more than a few seconds.

•••

By the time Byleth returns from answering the door, she finds Dimitri face down on the table and Mikhail in the midst of dumping his bowl of porridge onto her husband’s head. She lets out a sound of surprise, a cross between a gasp and a choke, and attempts to take the bowl from her son, but she is a few seconds too late. 

The porridge soaks into Dimitri’s hair, and all the while, Mikhail is laughing like the tiny miscreant he is.

All is still for a moment, as Byleth expects Dimitri to wake up fuming; however, he does not stir in the slightest. She lays a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Dimitri?” 

He continues sleeping soundly on the kitchen table. 

Byleth stands there with an empty bowl and a hand slapped tight to her mouth to stop her laughter, unsure of what to do next. This is quite the predicament, one she’s never encountered before. Is she supposed to wake her husband in times like these? It is clear he’s exhausted. Would he even be able to bathe on his own? What if he drowned in bathroom?

Shaking her head, she grabs her son and gets him ready for bed. “You are going to be in so much trouble when you father wakes up, mister,” she snickers, changing Mikhail into his nightclothes and settling him down for the night. He laughs happily and immediately goes to sleep as soon as she sets him in his crib.

By the time she finishes, an hour has passed, and Dimitri is still fast asleep on the kitchen table. Oh, her poor husband, run ragged between their son and his kingdom. 

Again, she lays a hand on his shoulder and shakes him gently. “Beloved,” she murmurs softly, trying to ignore the porridge that has now dried like glue to his hair. “Dimitri, it’s time to wake up.”  _ Goddess, don’t laugh, don’t laugh! _

He groans a little and then shoots up in his seat, looking absolutely confused and ridiculous, especially with his hair sticking up in all directions. “W-What? Where -- Mikhail? Where did he go? And what -- what is in my hair?!” He touches the stiff locks, eyebrows furrowed and blue eye wide with shock. “What in blazes  _ is _ this?!”

Byleth is nearly crying from holding back her laughter, not wanting to wake their son after just putting him down. “Oh, Goddess,” she wheezes, “I can’t breathe. Beloved, I’m so, so sorry -- your son, he -- pfft...hahaha!”

He looks at her incredulously, confused beyond all belief. “I - I don’t remember what happened. I was feeding Mikhail and now…”

Shaking with bottled laughter, she guides him to the bathroom and helps scrub his hair free of the sticky food. “I’m sorry, Dimitri. I was too late in stopping our son from dumping his porridge on you.”

“I’m...amazed, really. I can’t believe I slept through all of that.” He leans back into the tub as Byleth scrubs gently at his hair. “I suppose this is what happens when you’ve been sleep deprived.”

“Well, it’s still early yet. We should sleep now while we can before our little mischief decides to wake up again.”

They get ready for bed quickly, and like his son, Dimitri falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow. Byleth can’t help but smile at her husband and think about how much she loves him. She kisses his forehead softly and burrows further into his arms. “Thank you for all you do, beloved.”


End file.
